Increasing contribution of peatlands to boreal evapotranspiration in a warming climate

Manuel Helbig (), James Michael Waddington, Pavel Alekseychik, Brian D. Amiro, Mika Aurela, Alan G. Barr, T. Andrew Black, Peter D. Blanken, Sean K. Carey, Jiquan Chen, Jinshu Chi, Ankur R. Desai, Allison Dunn, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Lawrence B. Flanagan, Inke Forbrich, Thomas Friborg, Achim Grelle, Silvie Harder, Michal Heliasz, Elyn R. Humphreys, Hiroki Ikawa, Pierre-Erik Isabelle, Hiroki Iwata, Rachhpal Jassal, Mika Korkiakoski, Juliya Kurbatova, Lars Kutzbach, Anders Lindroth, Mikaell Ottosson Löfvenius, Annalea Lohila, Ivan Mammarella, Philip Marsh, Trofim Maximov, Joe R. Melton, Paul A. Moore, Daniel F. Nadeau, Erin M. Nicholls, Mats B. Nilsson, Takeshi Ohta, Matthias Peichl, Richard M. Petrone, Roman Petrov, Anatoly Prokushkin, William L. Quinton, David E. Reed, Nigel T. Roulet, Benjamin R. K. Runkle, Oliver Sonnentag, Ian B. Strachan, Pierre Taillardat, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Juha-Pekka Tuovinen, Jessica Turner, Masahito Ueyama, Andrej Varlagin, Martin Wilmking, Steven C. Wofsy and Vyacheslav Zyrianov
Additional contact information
Manuel Helbig: McMaster University
James Michael Waddington: McMaster University
Pavel Alekseychik: University of Helsinki
Brian D. Amiro: University of Manitoba
Mika Aurela: Finnish Meteorological Institute
Alan G. Barr: Climate Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada
T. Andrew Black: The University of British Columbia
Peter D. Blanken: University of Colorado
Sean K. Carey: McMaster University
Jiquan Chen: Michigan State University
Jinshu Chi: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Ankur R. Desai: University of Wisconsin–Madison
Allison Dunn: Worcester State University
Eugenie S. Euskirchen: University of Alaska Fairbanks
Lawrence B. Flanagan: University of Lethbridge
Inke Forbrich: Marine Biological Laboratory
Thomas Friborg: University of Copenhagen
Achim Grelle: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Silvie Harder: McGill University
Michal Heliasz: Lund University
Elyn R. Humphreys: Carleton University
Hiroki Ikawa: Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences National Agriculture and Food Research Organization
Pierre-Erik Isabelle: Université Laval
Hiroki Iwata: Shinshu University
Rachhpal Jassal: The University of British Columbia
Mika Korkiakoski: Finnish Meteorological Institute
Juliya Kurbatova: A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences
Lars Kutzbach: Institute of Soil Science, University of Hamburg
Anders Lindroth: Lund University
Mikaell Ottosson Löfvenius: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Annalea Lohila: University of Helsinki
Ivan Mammarella: University of Helsinki
Philip Marsh: Wilfrid Laurier University
Trofim Maximov: Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Joe R. Melton: Climate Research Division, Environment and Climate Change Canada
Paul A. Moore: McMaster University
Daniel F. Nadeau: Université Laval
Erin M. Nicholls: McMaster University
Mats B. Nilsson: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Takeshi Ohta: Nagoya University
Matthias Peichl: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Richard M. Petrone: University of Waterloo
Roman Petrov: Institute for Biological Problems of Cryolithozone, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Anatoly Prokushkin: V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forest, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
William L. Quinton: Wilfrid Laurier University
David E. Reed: Michigan State University
Nigel T. Roulet: McGill University
Benjamin R. K. Runkle: Institute of Soil Science, University of Hamburg
Oliver Sonnentag: Université de Montréal
Ian B. Strachan: McGill University
Pierre Taillardat: Université du Québec à Montréal—Geotop
Eeva-Stiina Tuittila: University of Eastern Finland
Juha-Pekka Tuovinen: Finnish Meteorological Institute
Jessica Turner: University of Wisconsin–Madison
Masahito Ueyama: Osaka Prefecture University
Andrej Varlagin: A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences
Martin Wilmking: University of Greifswald
Steven C. Wofsy: Harvard University
Vyacheslav Zyrianov: V.N. Sukachev Institute of Forest, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Nature Climate Change, 2020, vol. 10, issue 6, 555-560

Abstract: Abstract The response of evapotranspiration (ET) to warming is of critical importance to the water and carbon cycle of the boreal biome, a mosaic of land cover types dominated by forests and peatlands. The effect of warming-induced vapour pressure deficit (VPD) increases on boreal ET remains poorly understood because peatlands are not specifically represented as plant functional types in Earth system models. Here we show that peatland ET increases more than forest ET with increasing VPD using observations from 95 eddy covariance tower sites. At high VPD of more than 2 kPa, peatland ET exceeds forest ET by up to 30%. Future (2091–2100) mid-growing season peatland ET is estimated to exceed forest ET by over 20% in about one-third of the boreal biome for RCP4.5 and about two-thirds for RCP8.5. Peatland-specific ET responses to VPD should therefore be included in Earth system models to avoid biases in water and carbon cycle projections.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41558-020-0763-7

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